Mother as trainer, 21-yr-old Sai Sudharsan from Tamil Nadu bats his way into big league

As Gavaskar was singling out Sudharsan, especially for the manner in which he handled Nortje’s pace — whom he hit for two sixes and one boundary — it was further validation of the growing stature of the wonderboy that Tamil Nadu cricket is excited about.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀! 👊

Here’s a sneak-peek into Sai Sudharsan’s training routine! 👀
Watch the full video👉https://t.co/oblBCKVA8D#AavaDe pic.twitter.com/0JKiZnBNBn

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 5, 2023

The recently concluded domestic season was Sudharsan’s first full-fledged where the 21-year-old, known for his good work ethic, scored three centuries in the Vijay Hazare Trophy before scoring two hundreds in the Ranji Trophy, including one on his debut.

In the Tamil Nadu Premier League auctions held just before the IPL, Sudharsan became the most expensive player in the tournament after Lyca Kovai Kings bought him for Rs 21.6 lakh. The figure is more than what he earns at Gujarat Titans, which bought him at a base price of Rs 20 lakh.

As Sudharsan was making short work of the challenge Nortje was posing and Gavaskar was raving about his potential, his mother Usha Bharadwaj had shut all the television noise and was seated in the puja room at their home in Chennai.

“𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥!” 💙

Sai Sudharsan reflects on his splendid innings which helped the team register their 2️⃣nd win on the trot! 💪 #AavaDe #DCvGT #TATAIPL 2023 pic.twitter.com/7FPJQKdXEb

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 5, 2023

Usha was a state-level volleyball player during her younger days and to date, there is a slight disappointment in her tone that she couldn’t reach the top level. Sudharshan’s father R Bharadwaj was a national-level athlete who competed in the 1993 SAFF Games in Dhaka. Sport runs in their blood, but for some reason, Usha still prefers not to watch her younger son play.

“I was in the puja room chanting the mantra, and only when the match got ever, my husband told me about it. For a long time, I never watched him play because I get tense,” Usha told The Indian Express.

Last December, Usha travelled to Bengaluru, along with her elder son Sairam Bharadwaj, to watch Sudharsan bat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Tamil Nadu. But this time, she has gone back to her usual spot. “If he plays 10 matches, I would miss 8 matches and ‘maybe’ watch two and I generally watch only replays,” said Usha, who is a strength and conditioning coach.

Ever since the pandemic set in, Usha has been overseeing Sudharsan’s fitness and has helped her chubby son shed a few kilos and be fitter to the demands of playing all three formats. As a strength and conditioning coach, who has trained the likes of India’s squash players Deepika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa and cricketers Abhinav Mukund, L Balaji, Thirush Kamini, D Hemalatha, N Niranjana, she had a hard time convincing her own son into believing she knows the stuff.
“He didn’t know my professional side at all. Ena trainer ah ve mathichathu kedaiyathu (he never saw me as a trainer). Only when he started going to state camps and IPL trials, when my students, Malolan Rangarajan (RCB), Balaji (CSK), passed their wishes through him that he came and said, ‘Ma, you seem to be very famous, everyone is asking about you’. And that is when he believed I am a trainer and he wanted me to help in the fitness aspect as well,” she said.

Earmarked as the best talent to come out of the state, Sudharsan had narrowly missed out on making India’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2020, and he used the pandemic break that followed to work on his fitness. “We started with basic workouts, but he gained interest and began asking questions as to ‘why am I doing this drill and what does it help in?’ and when he got the answer, he just deep dived into it. Kelvi kette aluga vechuduvan (used to make me cry by bombarding me with questions),” Usha said.

Still in his teens then and with many distractions around, Usha would use Virat Kohli’s fitness videos to motivate Sudharsan. “He was too young to follow it regularly… But, you need 100 per cent commitment to make it big and so I picked videos of Kohli and made him watch those, especially the sacrifices he made to stay fit and even showed his eating habits. And it actually worked because in no time training became a non-negotiable for Sudharsan,” she said.

Having done all the preparation ahead of the IPL, Sudharsan was not sure of getting a chance in the XI, but an injury to Williamson opened the door for him.

Ahead of the match against Delhi Capitals, Sudharsan, who has a habit of writing a to-do note list for the next day, had written these: keep an eye on the conditions, fast outfield, how DC will unleash Nortje. This visualisation is a key part of Sudharsan’s preparations along with yoga and meditation.

Off the eighth ball he faced, he walked across and played a scoop of Nortje’s 145-kmph delivery that carried all the way for six. It didn’t seem premeditated, but one purely based on instinct.

“To be honest, I have never faced such a pace. But during the preparation, I used the bowling machine to good effect and even our throw-down specialist helped by hitting a few balls with a tennis racquet. So I knew the pace would feel. Although I didn’t have fear of the pace, I definitely had the pressure of the situation,” he said.